A South Philly fairy tea party

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a TikTok video from creator Maddy Olson about a fairy tea party and thought “I need to do that.” So I texted some friends— including my frequent collaborator and fellow photographer Carolyn. Five days later we hit up Trader Joes for snacks and fresh flowers and put together a magical fairy dinner party in my small South Philly backyard.

As a photographer, I sometimes find it challenging balancing my desire to take photos with my desire to spend quality time with my friends. This small event was the perfect balance of creation and conversation. The tables are all curated with items that we collectively owned. My favorite is the silver candle holder (we call it “the chalice”) that I bought from the Resource Exchange, a local nonprofit that sells salvaged and second-hand craft materials.

A mixture of homemade and pre-made snacks from Trader Joes.

In true fairy fashion, we were joined by this small mantis friend.